No, you don't.
Pastry flour is usually low in protein/gluten compared to A/P or bread flour. It may also be more finely ground. Both help in achieving a light, delicate texture when baking cakes, cookies, biscuits, etc.
But it's not necessary. Especially if they're asking for a 3/1 mix, you probably won't even notice the difference. Just be careful not to over-mix the dough: this encourages gluten formation and forces out air, thus resulting in tougher, denser cookies. Letting the dough rest in the fridge or freezer for 20 minutes prior to baking can help avoid this as well.
Alternately, substitute oat flour (grind some oatmeal in a blender / spice mill if you don't have any) - it has no gluten, and will add a pleasant, nutty flavor to the cookies.
Gnocchi shaped? I am pretty sure they are Turdilli! .
It's a traditional Calabrian recipe:
They are deep-fried:
And hot-soaked in honey too:
Same biscotti, slightly different shapes:
Bear in mind that fried cookies soaked in honey are a traditional treat for carnival and Christmas seasons all over Italy, so you may find many, many similar recipes. From http://www.marinacepedafuentes.com/2010_02_01_archive.html :
Evviva i Dolci di Carnevale rigorosamente fritti, che ricevono nomi diversi secondo i luoghi.
In Toscana chiacchiere o trecce, e poi frappe laziali, castagnole romane, frittelle di riso molisane, fritole triestine, nigelan altoatesini, sfincitelle siciliane, tortelli romagnoli, bomboloni fiorentini, cicerchiata umbra e chi più ne ha più ne metta!
At left with figs syrup, at right with honey:
A full blown italian fritti feast:
Turdilli recipes in Italian
Turdilli recipes in English
Video: Making Turdilli
A shop near my house sells turdilli (hold your envy)
Best Answer
No, the device called for, a pastry blender, is not what you have linked in either picture.
The first is a simple hand mixer with standard beaters. The second is the paddle attachment for a stand mixer.
A pastry blender is used to cut butter into flour and looks something like this:
(Image from crate and barrel)
It is used to cut butter into flour, while leaving it in relatively large solid chunks.
If you don't have a pastry blender, alternatives include:
Using two knives, criss-crossed, to slowly cut the butter up with the flour mixture in a scissors-like motion
Pressing with the back of a fork
With skill and cold hands, you can even press the butter and flour together with your fingers, which is very old fashioned, but hard to describe in text
(All of these methods require butter cool enough to not blend into the flour, but warm enough to cut easily, about 65 F, 18.3 C.)
If you have one, cutting in butter is also very easily done in a food processor with the knife blade; in this case, you want cold butter. It usually takes not very many pulses, so monitor the texture after each pulse or two once you have done four or five.
If you have a large holed grater, you can even grate frozen butter, and then simply toss it with the flour
This video from Dear Martini Kitchen has an excellent demonstration of the pastry blender method that clearly shows the desired texture, an inset which shows the two-knife technique, and at the end a brief food processor demo.